MONTREAL - The city has fired two civil servants who were suspended after their names came up at the Charbonneau Commission into collusion and corruption in the construction industry.

Yves Themens, a senior public servant in charge of overseeing most of the city's infrastructure projects, and François Thériault, a construction inspector, have been dismissed after an internal investigation by the city's chief comptroller, the city announced Friday.

However, Michel Paquette, another municipal inspector who admitted to the commission he took freebies from construction entrepreneurs, was reinstated in his job Thursday, the city said.

All three were suspended with pay in October and the city stopped paying them in November.

Gilles Vézina, a senior civil servant who told the commission he saw nothing wrong with accepting pricey perks from entrepreneurs but drew the line at prostitutes, has agreed to resign effective March 1, the city also announced. Vézina was suspended without pay in November.

The three men leaving the city's employ will receive no severance, but all are eligible to collect their municipal pensions, said Jean Yves Hinse, the city's director of human capital and communications. "That belongs to them," Hinse said. "This is protection they have under the Quebec law on pensions. That money cannot be seized," he added.

As a professional with 30 years of service, Vézina is eligible for an indexed annual pension of at least $51,000, according to the city's pension guidelines. The other two men will get a reduced pension because they have fewer years of service — 21 years for Themens, a management employee, and 22 years for Thériault, a blue-collar worker.

A typical management employee with 28 years of service gets an indexed pension of $55,000 a year, while a typical blue-collar worker with 24 years of service collects $24,000 a year, according to the pension guide.

Paquette's admission before the Charbonneau Commission that he accepted hockey tickets, wine, fancy dinners and other perks from construction bosses was not sufficient grounds to fire him, Hinse said.

"We considered that in the circumstances, a four-month suspension was justified. There were not enough elements for a dismissal," he said.

In November, Paquette testified he took many "gifts" over a 19-year career with the city, but denied accepting cash bribes. "I was happy just to go to hockey games and golf tournaments," he said.

The problem, said Hinse, was that the city could not discipline employees as a result of testimony before the commission since those who testify do so in return for a guarantee of immunity from prosecution.

"The difficulty the city had was that even though there were allegations raised by the Charbonneau Commission, I could not use that as proof, so we had to build our own case," he said.

However, the city followed up on the allegations in its own inquiry, he added.

"It allowed us to look into certain contracts to see whether there were 'extras' that were not justified," Hinse said.

The city probe demonstrated that all four men approved unjustified expenses, inflated the cost of materials, maintained close links to construction entrepreneurs and accepted gifts contrary to the city's code of ethics, he said.

Thériault testified before the commission that he accepted gifts from entrepreneurs like hockey tickets and wine but never took cash. He admitted he went on vacation to the Dominican Republic with Conex construction boss Tony Conte, but claimed he paid for the trip himself.

But in December, the Sûreté du Québec arrested Thériault for perjury after a search of his Laval home allegedly turned up evidence he had received monetary advantages relating to the property.

Lino Zambito, a former construction entrepreneur, testified at the commission that Themens gave him a confidential list of companies interested in submitting bids for contracts.

Vézina told the commission a number of engineering and paving firms treated him to dinners and hockey tickets, including games in engineering company Génivar's private box at the Bell Centre.

Hinse said the city has updated a code of ethics for employees it adopted in 2009 to ensure similar breaches of conduct don't happen again. From now on, employees will be required to sign a document indicating they have read and understood the code, he said.

"It's zero tolerance for the city of Montreal," he said. "It's out of the question that any employee will receive money or gifts of any nature from entrepreneurs for the work they are being asked to do. On the contrary, we want them to watch out for Montrealers to make sure they get their money's worth in all work that is done."